Ross Coates Solicitors: Info
Hello. This section below about Ross Coates Solicitors is scheduled for archiving and will eventually be removed. The information may therefore be out of date. There are more review articles here or you can use our Legal Help search box to find alternate firms in your area. Thank you for your patience.
|
Ross Coates Solicitors in Kesgrave & Ipswich: Review
If you've come to this page seeking a selection of over-capitalised or over-exclamated public snippets about Ross Coates Solicitors - that's not what we do. There are already enough forums allowing crowds of anonymous people to write whatever they want, true or false.
Here we investigate various law firms, browse their promotional material, read the public reviews, check backgrounds, check the people, read any available news articles, and so on. We then try to sum it all up and highlight the main bits you might have missed or those which ended up on Page 5 of the search engine results. First, as is our common practice, we open the floor to the actual firm:
The Ross Coates website is simple, yet obviously styled for regular professionalism as opposed to the more trendy colourfulness that seems to be taking over everywhere else. The site is not massive, just a handful of pages with a few brief paragraphs about each section. As I'm sure most people are aware, solicitors can be very verbose. We've seen some sites with endless articles about why people should use their firm under misleading headings such as 'blog' or 'news'. In our opinion, websites that come to the point quickly and are easily navigable (i.e. not 100+ options in the dropdown menu) tend to reflect the organisation itself. Huge organisations with multiple offices covering every case type under the sun will often have a huge website that you need an IT expert to find your way through.
Unfortunately it's become commonplace for law firms to state they use technology to speed things up. So whilst this sentence sounds good, you've probably already read something similar on every other solicitor's site today. Plus, what one firm considers technologically advanced and speedy may differ drastically from the client's expectation. Ross Coates do try to emphasise their tech savvy roots by stating they were one of the first firms to switch to computers back in the 90s. But as a huge number of firms now offer email, texting, online client areas, and even Skype appointments - the use of technology doesn't really set one firm above others these days.
The firm certainly has more history than some. As I said, they refer to the 90s on their site and the eponymous Ross Michael Coates himself qualified as a solicitor back in 1979. You can search the qualification dates of any solicitor on The Law Society website, and for this firm Mr Coates isn't the only one with extensive experience with others qualifying in 1973, 1997, 2005, an so on.
The site could actually use more information about the staff in our opinion. Although not to the ridiculous extent some firms go to such as detailing each solicitor's hobbies, favourite foods and pet's names. (No really! If you haven't come across that yet, just try a few more websites and at least one will be 'trying to make their staff look human' as we've heard it put.) We are absolutely in favour of good staff sections on solicitor's websites with photos, background history to indicate their experience, and direct contact details for each. The RossCoates site does list some staff with contact details so they're part-way there.
Ross Coates cover several different legal matters including family law, wills, probate, employment and so on. However the majority of the negative reviews about the firm tend to be about residential property sales. This does skew the overall ratings system. For a good example of this, check out the reviews for a firm called Countrywide Conveyancing. They are a very large firm that deal solely in property with thousands of customers and hundreds of reviews. At the time of writing this, Countrywide Conveyancing had a 2.1 star rating out of 5 on Google.
You will find this is true for many firms that specialise in property matters. Buying and selling a home is stressful and fraught with hazards - many of which are totally outside the control of the solicitors themselves. It relies on government organisations having the right information, third party search firms doing their job well, clear communication from the other side's solicitors, and the third parties not changing their minds every two seconds. But of course when something goes wrong, the only place to vent is a bad review for the firm you were using. Here are few clips from public boards:
"Stay away from these solicitors, so rude on the phone, don’t answer calls"
"it was hard to get hold of Claire when needed and responses could be a little slow"
But these are right along reviews such as:
"Emma was very professional, responded quickly and efficiently to our questions."
"All deadlines were met and staff were polite and helpful."
In fact, the majority of the negative reviews seem to focus on one particular product of RossCoates' that is being listed on property service comparison websites. If you've ever used an insurance comparison website only to find totally different prices once you've been transferred to the insurer - then this scenario will make complete sense. Of course, such mixups when you're talking about tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds over a property is naturally going to cause horrendous friction.
This does not mean you should ignore reviews about property matters or that the majority of them don't have real grievances. It's just something to bear in mind if you're looking for help with another issue - e.g. that a firm with a dozen bad reviews about conveyancing and two good reviews about family law might still be an excellent firm. Please also note that many reviews on third party sites talk about Harmony Law or Harmony Solicitors. This is another name Ross Coates Solicitors was using and still relates to the same overall law firm. Again, it's not uncommon for law firms to have different names and setups for different case types or areas. If you read the article just prior to this one, that firm has four different websites with different names. The reasons for which vary, such as one brand being used for a specific case type to help boost it in a marketing drive.
After looking through everything, we decided to add Ross Coates Solicitors to our network and recommend them to the people coming through our site. We are not a middleman, so please use the direct contact details listed above if you would like to speak to them. We cannot take your details and pass them on.
A quick note on navigation: the main website is www.rosscoates.co.uk with www.rosscoates.com seeming to be owned by a different firm. We have seen that some people are trying www.rosscoatessolicitors.co.uk but neither that or any hyphenated variants seem to be owned by anyone. Similarly the firm is no longer using the Harmony Law branding so www.harmonylaw.co.uk and www.harmonylaw.com don't even redirect to the main site. We didn't check misspellings, but with all that in mind and considering we're dealing with property matters - we recommend bookmarking the correct website when you're on it to avoid issues later. There have been reports of scammers hijacking property solicitors communications to try and get the money deposited in to their own bank accounts.
General Notes: Usually if Legal Aid is possible we've mentioned it above, but you can always ask. We haven't looked in depth at their recruitment program so are unaware of any job vacancies available. For a career with Ross Coates Solicitors it's best to visit the website (www.rosscoates.co.uk), check opening hours, and find the correct phone/email contact details. Simply emailing a CV to reception looks lazy. Each law firm's Law Society and/or SRA number should be on their site, usually at the bottom of each page.
This Ross Coates Solicitors article is rated
4.1 / 5 based on 19 reviews. †
(Voting has been paused for this page.)
Other Law Firms with Reviews like Ross Coates Solicitors:
» IWC Probate & Will Services - Of course ...
» 33Legal Ltd -
We've often said that it's better to get a 20-year experienced lawyer in a 1-year old firm than to end up with a 1-year experienced lawyer at a 20-year old firm ...
» Linkilaw Ltd - Certainly ...
» Kuddus Solicitors - There have been reports of a href="https ...
» Graysons Solicitors - They are actually a very good firm ...
» Hine Legal Ltd - For legal issues such as personal injury or wills it's not really a high priority ...
» Hallmark Solicitors - If a firm only has two solicitors yet states they 'specialise' in two dozen different case types - then we'd have to differ with them on what the word 'specialise' really means ...
» Warwick Vesey -
As the firm deals in conveyancing we would therefore highly recommend bookmarking the correct site /b once you're on it to be sure ...
» Shaw and Co Solicitors - No win ...
» BES Legal Ltd - We only saw one negative review /b amongst the regular boards which said they couldn't get through to the firm on the phone ...
» Jarmans Solicitors Ltd - That's why we always recommend having a look at a href="https ...
» HUMD Solicitors -
div class="infoquote" "For further information or to book an appointment please contact us via Phone ...
» GloverPriest Solicitors - But still ...
» Ventura Law Ltd - Ventura Law are open before most other law firms in the morning and close a good couple of hours after most lawyers have shut their doors for the evening ...
humdsolicitors.co.uk |
beslegal.co.uk |
balfour-manson.co.uk |
summerfieldbrowne.com |
kuddussolicitors.co.uk |
rosscoates.co.uk |
iwc-ltd.co.uk |
taylor-rose.co.uk |
-- Add your Firm -- |
This list is based on the Legal Ombudsman's complaints database, adjusted for relevant data such as size:
» Garner Canning Ltd » Sarah Waddington Solicitors » Beaumont ABS Ltd » Carpenters Ltd » DAS Law Ltd » Lyons Davidson Ltd » Irwin Mitchell LLP » Slater & Gordon UK Ltd This list is updated regularly as new data is released. The Legal Ombudsman's complaints database can be viewed by anyone here » |
UK fined over mentally ill mans "inhuman treatment" in police custody - www.guardian.co.uk
Are passenger entitled to compensation after Virgins emergency landing? - www.independent.co.uk
Inquire 4 Questions To Learn If Law School Is The Proper Move: Applications should be made direct to the contact responsible for trainee recruitment at the law firm. Even when you might have staff assigned to digital marketing tasks. an outside expert can offer an improved framework and fresh ...
3 E-Mail Approaches Law Firms Can Use To Find Qualified Leads: Liz received a well crafted cover letter that explained her curiosity about working in a location outside of Florida and how her experience prior to law school made her a great fit. Sherif Hefni. Levari founder of the leg ...
East Lancs Solicitor Struck Off After GBP400k Fraud (From Lancashire Telegraph): Join over 25.000 of your peers and receive their weekly newsletter which features the top trends. expert news analysis to help keep you ahead of the curve. The customers of local solicitors regularly return to them for al ...